Remote desktop connection does not respond anymore (no more task bar)

I have a remote desktop connection (from my home) to the company's server. On this I opened a Remote Desktop Connection Manager and inside this connect to a specific server.

I was busy copying a file but this task never ends. So I kill the process and now I have a blue screen and no more taskbar. Very frustrating. When I try CTRL+ALT+END (=CTRL+ALT+DEL) this is executed on the main server and not the server which gives me the blue screen. I don't know if I'm clear.

I know I should have keep Task Manager open and type Run... explorer.exe but I closed it.

Any help is really appreciated!

remote-desktop

Bronzato

Posted 2012-12-06T19:01:19.830

Reputation: 219

1Is this really suited to SO? – Arran – 2012-12-06T19:03:51.920

Sorry I will ask the question on Stack User – Bronzato – 2012-12-06T19:04:35.393

You can try to disconnect/terminate session and connect again and log in with different user this time - this should start another explorer.exe process and give you full GUI. If this remote server has Remote Procedure Calls enabled and you have proper right you can try to use this guide: http://anandthearchitect.wordpress.com/2008/08/01/how-to-logoff-remote-desktop-sessions-via-command-line-tools/ and log off the session remotely. I recommend RWINSTA. If it will require from you the remote server admin rights to do so - then use command RUN AS to start RWINSTA as specific user.

– mnmnc – 2012-12-21T23:28:08.077

Answers

I solved my problem with CTRL + SHIFT + ESC then I can access my Task Manager.

Bronzato

Posted 2012-12-06T19:01:19.830

Reputation: 219

I get into this problem and I solved it this way:

Close the RDC to the specific server (session keeps running).
In the "proxy" server, open "Remote desktop service manager" (you can found it in Start menu, "Administrative tools", "Remote desktop services").
In the management console, right click on the tree root ("Remote desktop service manager") and on the context menu click on "Connect to computer".
Input the specific server name or address and connect.
When connected, you can see your session in the main panel of the console. Select it and choose "Close session" from right panel.

Now you can connect to the specific server using RDC and a new session will open and you will have the task bar.

Sergio Del Franco

Posted 2012-12-06T19:01:19.830

Reputation: 21

This is expected behavior, as your home's Remote Desktop Connection will only inject the Ctrl + Alt + Del keystrokes in the machine it is directly connected to. This won't end up in the nested session.

Your best bet would be to keep Explorer running at all time. I'm assuming you were copying a file using the clipboard redirection. In this case, simply disconnecting and reconnecting should be enough to abort the operation and get you back on your way.

MikeJM

Posted 2012-12-06T19:01:19.830

Reputation: 21

Your access rights on the server might prevent this from working, but you can try create a second connection as yourself on the server by running this from your command prompt:

MSTSC /admin

(MSTSC.exe is Remote Desktop)

then connect & login as usual.

Once logged in, go in task manager, in the user tab you should see your new session as well as your previous self showing "disconnected". Right-click and do Log Off on it to end that session.

By the way, /admin is also useful in that you can create a 3rd connection when the maximum of 2 users is reached.

mtone

Posted 2012-12-06T19:01:19.830

Reputation: 11 230

I got this problem too this morning.

Go to the Terminal Services Manager on the server, choose the Sessions tab, select the session and then click Reset button.

If this cannot resolve your problem ,please ask your friend to login to the server and then ask them to kick you out. This will end your session, and you will able to access again. Hope this help.

vsp

Posted 2012-12-06T19:01:19.830

Reputation: 101